Telling stories

“When you realise that the dumbest person in the argument is on your side, that means you’re on the wrong side.”

I see hundreds, actually thousands, of online writing courses popping up on the Internet. Nearly all of them involve some cohort based model that trains people on how to write consistently for an online audience (for engagement).

The creators have already solved the riddle of content-driven writing, and they will show you how to crack the code.

Life... See more

When you slow down and really break a topic down, you start to realize there isn't enough clarity in saying, "I want to write about X." And the reason so many writers sit down to write, only to give up 5 minutes later, is because this is the first BIG realization they have to confront. They thought they knew what they wanted to write about, only to... See more

learning how to write was very much like learning how to live: it all begins by listening to your inner voice and honoring it.

Living is as much a craft as is writing. There are rules and frameworks one can follow, but ultimately, one must define and cultivate one’s own style.

Almost everything that is meaningful, beautiful, life-affirming, empowering, transformational, true—it can’t be reached by shortcuts. But what we can do is make the longcuts walkable, put out footbridges and stairs, and a table where the ocean comes into view.

We are always telling stories, whether we realize it or not. We might as well get good at it. Good stories win people over. They provoke and inspire and inflame the human spirit. It’s a tremendous source of power.

A little over a year ago, I appointed myself Washington Park’s artist-in-residence. I’m not sure the people who run the park ever knew I was their artist in residence, but it didn’t matter. A self-appointed artist in residence doesn’t require anyone’s approval: that’s the singular benefit of doing it this way.

Too Late is a construct, one I don’t need to buy into. Too Late reduces the power of possibility. Too Late is a lie, one meant to keep us from imagining new futures for ourselves and the world. Too Late doesn’t need to be a rule I constrict myself with. Too Late leaves so little room for what could be.

Storytelling is a primal instinct (people have been telling stories much, much longer than they’ve been reading or writing about them)